Oh, for a time machine!

 As has been said many times before, we are lucky that there are a number of volunteers in the department (and across the whole railway) that can remember the later years of the line in BR ownership, and have photos that document this. 

One of those volunteers is a gentleman by the name of Tom Cullimore. Tom has been a member of the railway for a significant time and was a pioneering member of the early diesel groups, working on the restoration of 37215 when it arrived from Inverness TMD in 1994. Tom is also the owner of a huge number of photos, from his own and other collections acquired over the years, showcasing the 'Honeybourne Line' during the 1960s and 1970s. With the new Covid lockdown in full swing, with little to no work at Toddington, it was time to take a look back in time. Here are a trio of pictures, courtesy of Tom, from the collection of the late Bill Potter. 

All were taken at Winchcombe on a very sunny 24th May 1970.

BR green liveried EE Type 4 (later TOPS Class 40), D316, climbs out of the remains of Winchcombe Station towards Greet Tunnel with a southbound coal train. Class 40s were never really common in the South West but would work services to Severn Tunnel Junction and Gloucester. This loco became 40116 under TOPS and was withdrawn in 1983.

A picture that demonstrates that, even in the 1970s, the line was still regularly used for passenger diversions as well as freight. Sulzer Type 4 (later TOPS Class 45), 12, races past the goods shed at Winchcombe with a southbound express - probably from the North East. At this point the line speed would have been 70mph. This loco was to become 45011 under TOPS and was withdrawn in 1981.   

A little further down the line, this time at Prescott Road bridge, with some hazy sunshine permeating over the distant fields. Brush Type 4 (later TOPS Class 47), 1853, still wearing BR two tone green with full yellow ends, powers along with a coal train. Given the headcode, 8Z84, this would have been a special probably to meet extra demand. 1853 became 47203 under TOPS and was withdrawn in 1989. At the time of the photo it was based at Crewe (Stoke Division).

Bill lived in Bishops Cleeve and amassed a huge collection of photographs of the 'Honeybourne Line' stemming from the 1950s right through to closure. Many of these, particularly of steam on the line, are held at the Kidderminster Railway Museum. Tom regularly posts the diesel photos onto social media, so always a good excuse to keep an eye on all of the railway's social media outlets.    

Lockdown 2.0 - The Revenge of Lockdown!

As I sit at my computer compiling this latest tome, Lockdown 2 has come into effect in England meaning that those of us that reside in England are now having to sit through new lockdown restrictions in the 'fight' against Covid. This has, of course, meant that operations across the railway have had to come to a halt again. Given that things had been going quite well at the GWR, the next month will see nothing but the most essential of maintenance work continuing and little/no revenue being generated - a real shame, as the public were still booking tickets for our restricted services in large numbers. It also means that all restoration and maintenance has to cease - except for critical work (this being designated by the Board on a case by case basis). With that in mind, the last few days have seen a flurry of activity in the Diesel Department. Over the past weekend there was a level of uncertainty as to what restrictions were being put in place so those in attendance were looking at getting maintenance and repairs to a point where they could be easily restarted when lockdown concluded. This led to quite a decent number of us at Toddington MPD on the Saturday with work continuing on 1693, D6948, D5343, 37215, 47376 and 45149. The weather was awful which meant that working under cover was a great relief with even D5343 being allowed in the David Page shed as work continued on the engine. 

D5343 invades the Steam Shed so that work on the engine could be continued out of the stormy conditions outside. 31/10/20

Simon T and Alex R were continuing the work on the engine overhaul. With the pistons and liners hanging in the Diesel Shed, work could be done on the drive shafts, fuel racks and injectors. Lots of checking and cleaning - looking for pitting, distortions and general wear. 

A view in to the prime mover of D5343. With the voids left by the removed pistons and liners, you can now start to work on other parts of the engine, including the drive shaft and fuel racks. 31/10/20

Once the weather had cleared up a little, Alex could then get on with pressure washing parts of the engine casing that had been removed for cleaning down. Using the pressure washer for cleaning engine parts is not a great job to do at the best of times as you get absolutely drenched, so, doing it after storm-force winds and rain doesn't make it any more enjoyable!

Evidence of the 'fun' Alex was having with the pressure washer! 31/10/20

A few odd jobs were also being completed on the 'Peak' ready for winterisation. 

With the clouds changing from dark grey to fluffy white, 45149 is shunted onto the apron for some minor jobs to be completed. 31/10/20 

This is the process of readying the locos ready for winter store - obviously this has been brought forward considerably due to the lack of running and the impending doom lockdown. The Peak and the Class 26, along with the Class 73 and DMU's, are very susceptible to the cold Cotswold winters due to them being stored outdoors. Winterisation generally includes draining water and other fluids that could freeze and expand, causing internal damage to components, and ensuring the antifreeze mix was topped up. 

In the Diesel Shed, Ian R and Dave M were continuing with bits and pieces on the overhaul of 1693. Dave was busy clearing around the bogie at No. 2 end ensuring that any paint or detritus was not preventing movement of the brake frames. 

The brake gear at No. 2 end on 1693 gets a clean up to ensure smoot running. 31/10/20

Meanwhile, Ian was busy with a few odd jobs around the door frames ready for the rehanging of the doors once top coat has been added. Each of the doors are in the process of being removed for the application of the undercoat, with the B Bankside cab doors removed. 

One of 1693's cab doors sits on a trolley wearing its new undercoat. 31/10/20

A little later Dave and Ian moved on to sister loco, 47376 'Freightliner 1995' which is suffering with some rusting under the cab flooring. With the cab floor ripped up in No. 2 end, the banging and scraping heralded the start of removing some of the rust to assess the scale of the remedial work to be carried out. 

Elsewhere, Mark S was busy within the engine room of 37215 as the process of returning it to service were continuing. After having reconnected all the electricals between the Traction Motors and Generator, it was time to make sure that all the components, circuits, relays and fuses were still functioning correctly. If any faults were found then these were either being corrected by Mark, as he went along, or would be relayed back to Technical Officer, Paul Good. It did flag up an issue with one of the compressors failing to fire up that would need further investigating. 

Steve M was also milling about doing some investigative work on Class 73, E6036, which has developed an issue with one of its suspension systems. He was also taking the opportunity to winterise it, in line with the possible lockdown causing the MPD site to be off limits. 

My job, was all nuts and bolts! Cleaning them, that is. With D6948 due to follow in its sister's wheel tracks to the jacks and a body lift, it means that the same processes need to be completed. This includes the cleaning of the securing bolts and the pins from the brake rigging. As you can imagine, these were covered in oil, Motak, dirt and God-only-knows what else!

The blue crate of doom....or the bits that need cleaning up from D6948. 31/10/20

As you can see, it wasn't all nuts and bolts. There was also a healthy dose of split pins, plastic spacers and washers that all needed the Mrs. Mop treatment. Cue firing up the wire wheel.

The black bucket of victory! Its surprising how well they come up after a healthy application of the wire wheel! 31/10/20

A long, but productive day! However, whilst sat back in the mess room (socially distancing, of course) came the news that the Prime Minister had set out that a new lockdown was, indeed, going to happen starting in England on Thursday 05/11. This would mean that, potentially, Wednesday (one of the other, usual days for work parties) 04/11 would be the final day to get work done for at least a month.

So, fast forward to Wednesday 04 November, and another 'large' (at least for the Department) attendance with the main job being focused on Class 37, 37215, and its return to service. After the obligatory cup of tea and 'polite' discussion of the weekend's events, a fairly large shunt was required to move locos to where they needed to be for work to be conducted. Luckily, the weather was much more pleasant, although a little chilly, for working outdoors. 37215 needed to be moved over one of the pit roads and this meant moving both Class 47s and Class 04, D2280, which was sat outside the shed. The 'Peak' was also to be moved onto the shed apron so that work could be conducted on that however, this was penned in by the Class 26 and a rake of Dogfish ballast wagons that were being used by the P'Way team, who were continuing to work on the unloading road. 

Simon T and Jon C went to sort out the 'Peak', with Simon firing up DES so that the ballast wagons could be moved and the 'Peak' shunted onto Road 7. Myself, Mark S and Paul G went to shunt out 37215. Space was at a premium in the yard as the Steam department had 'Foremark Hall' out in the yard and the P'Way team were, again, working on the unloading road with the Land Rover also sharing the apron along with lots of tools and the JCB. 

The P'Way gang carry on with the work on the unloading road. In the background you can see the progress on the 'Goods Shed' mess facility. 04/11/20

One of the P'Way Landie's. Complete with all the tools needed for the job at hand. 04/11/20

After firing up Class 04 lookalike, 11230, the first job was to move Class 04, D2280, and 47376. 

Class 04, D2280 or 'Shunty', stabled on Road 11 awaiting its body work repairs and a repaint. To move it we had to make sure the gearbox had been disengaged and that it was fit to move. 04/11/20

Sadly, 11230 is not the most sure footed of the shunter fleet and is prone to wheelslip - even when the rail adhesion is good -  so on a day like Wednesday, greasy rails meant some very considerate driving from Mark S and the need to find some sand! Class 04's, as a whole, weren't a very successful class of shunter particularly when required to move heavy loads. At 204hp, the engines are a little underpowered for moving multiple locomotives and they tend to struggle when moving more than one diesel. After struggling to move 'Shunty' and 47376, it was back to drag out 1693 and 37215. More swearing and sand application before the locos broke sunlight and we could shunt them onto Road 8. 

37215 enjoying the late autumnal sunshine, along with 1693 and 11230 over the pit on Road 8. 04/11/20

The efforts of 11230 to try and get the two 100+ tonne locos moving was plain to see when looking back in the shed.

11230's exertions leave a colourful haze of diesel exhaust in the shed. One of the downsides of the shed design is that there is no extraction, this is why locos are pulled out in to the yard before start up. When shunting, of course, this is not possible. 04/11/20

Under Jon C's watchful gaze, Simon backs 45149 onto the adjacent road 7. 04/11/20

With the shunt complete, Simon and Jon hooked 45149 up to a barrel containing its coolant mixture and, with the aid of an electric pump, refilled the loco with its necessary top up for the winter. 

Jon C oversees the antifreeze top up. 04/11/20

With 37215 over the pit, Mark, Paul and John G went underneath to do the final checks on the traction motors and to reseal all the covers. This required them to be cleaned up a little, a job that was mine. You can always find some interesting historical bits when doing this type of work and this was no different. Scribbled on a number of the TM covers was......

During the late 1980's, Plymouth Laira depot was tasked with undertaking some life extension overhauls on Class 37s and, it is probable that this date (22 December 1988) is when the TM covers on 37215 were last sealed, especially as its fleet history on Class37.co.uk has it having received an F Exam at Laira as of 05 January 1989. (You can see the fleet history for 37215 here.) 

Once the cleaning of the TM covers was finished, I went back to carry on with the cleaning jobs I had started on Saturday. By this time I had been joined by Chris M, which made the task a lot less laborious! 

As well as the pins and washers to clean, these spacing pins from the brake rigging needed to be cleaned of dirt and grime. As you can see from the condition, these things take a battering when fitted to the loco. 04/11/20

With the pair of us ploughing on with the cleaning, we had managed to complete the lot in a decent amount of time. Also joining us in the shed by this time was John G, armed with a brush and dustpan. As we had not had our Gala this year, the shed had not had its usual mid-year clean through, so John decided to crack on with it. 

John G cracks on with one of the most important tasks in the department. Keeping on top of the housekeeping means that the chances of accident, illness and fire can be kept as low as possible. 04/11/20

Having completed the cleaning, it was back to 37215 in the yard. With all the auxiliaries and electrical systems checked, it was time to start the loco up for the first time in months AND, see if it responds to the controls appropriately. This meant that, if the loco did fire up, that everything had to be checked, inside and out, to make sure there were no further faults that appeared. 

CONTACT! 37215 erupts into life. 04/11/20

Even though it hadn't been warmed up via the pre-heater, and the batteries have seen better days, the loco started first time and, in time honoured English Electric fashion, proceeded to cover the immediate vicinity in a plume of diesel exhaust. One issue was immediately identified with one of the compressors not firing up - when the loco is first started both compressors will start up until the requisite air level is reached and one the compressors will then drop out. This wasn't happening and, when trying to switch over from one compressor to the other, the second was still not firing up. Paul and Mark busied themselves with checking the electrical cubicle to see if there were any issues with the electrical system but will require further investigation. Other faults identified included leaks from two of the twelve brake cylinders - one major, one minor. Luckily we have spares and these can be easily swapped over. 

With the light fading rapidly, and the weather looking like it might change for the worse, it was time to get everything back in the shed. 

Mark and Kev get 37215 and 1693 back undercover. DES rests in the background having shunted the ballast wagons out of the way. 04/11/20

37215 successfully shunted itself and 1693 back into the shed and Simon manoeuvred 45149 back over the old Diesel Department pit. 

Simon shunts 45149 back onto the old pit road. 04/11/20

So, that's it for another month! Normally, we would be entering a shutdown period at this time anyway, but given how the rest of 2020 has gone it was hoped to continue running to bring in revenue that had been lost. However, it is still planned that the Santa Specials will run, as advertised, but keep up with the goings on either via the blogs, the GWR website or social media. 

Keep safe!